Right, in no particular order, Hannah and guest/co-Author Hannah S. present "Post-Abernethy Problems"
1. No hot water boiler.
Now this may seem a mere trifle, but it is a catastrophe. It means no more practically automatic cups of tea, like now you actually have to wait for the water to boil. It's super sad. Also, you have to estimate how much water to put in the kettle because you wouldn't want to boil too much because that just takes that much longer.
2. Feeling out of the loop
So you spend a year or so being part of the Abernethy life--you work, sleep, eat at the same place with the same people and all of a sudden it's ripped out of your grasp. Suddenly it's not your concern what groups are in and who's DO tonight. You don't have morning meeting anymore, so there goes the daily information of general Abernethy concerns. And you just feel a little lost. On the one hand, you've escaped but you've completely lost your routine and now you have all this extra time on your hands.
3. Adjusting to normal life
You mean I don't have to eat dinner at 5:30? You mean I can eat whatever I want? You mean I actually have to sort my life out? You mean I have to be a responsible adult? You mean I have to leave the house in order to actually socialize; I have to go out in public? Is this what real life is like?
4. Center Jokes
Every Center has their own set of inside jokes and nicknames. When you leave all of a sudden they're all gone. You have no one to share moments with, because, let's be honest, retelling a potentially funny story someone who would understand is never as good as actually experiencing it together. So you sit around and talk to your non-abernethy friends and family and get a little bit sad and depressed when a perfect moment for a joke comes along and there's no one to share it with.
5. No cooked breakfast
Well, I mean you could just cook it yourself but that's so much work...and really who wants to be up at 7:30 cooking breakfast for yourself when you could be in bed an extra half hour and have cereal....
6. No Potato Scones
Now, this may not be a UK problem but it's definitely a problem in Canada. I don't know how I'm gonna survive...
7. Not living with your friends
This is both a good thing and a bad thing. On the one hand, you get to have some time alone and be more responsible and adultish, but on the other, you're so used to being surrounded by all these people. You can no longer just pop next door and annoy people or borrow a book or a film or just hang out. Again, you actually have to leave the comfort of your own home to socialize. Which means you need to put on proper clothes because it's not really sociably acceptable to go to the pub or a restaurant in your pajamas (though it really should be...) and going to hang out in their kitchens is also not sociably acceptable...
8. Lack of Official Breaks
Right, so every center has slightly different break times, but generally they're around 11 and 3. Now, you could just take a break then and eat some toast and have some tea, but if everyone else isn't doing it it doesn't feel right and then you feel guilty for not working or being productive.
9. Sorting your evenings out
Right, so now you no longer live in the middle of nowhere, so what are you going to do with your evenings? You actually have no excuse for being a lazy person. So get up and do something, but really all you want to do is sit on the couch and watch TV or sit around on Tumblr or netflix but that's what lazy people with no life do and so you attempt to convince yourself to go do something sociable but really all you end up doing is sitting on Tumblr or watching a film. It's a recurring circle of guilt because really you no longer have an excuse for not doing anything. Well...I do...I live in the country and don't have a vehicle yet...I'm sorted..for the time being anyways. . .
So there you are. A few post-Abernethy problems. We hope you've enjoyed them. Hannahs' out.
